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99 min.

PlotCharlie Croker (Michael Caine), a Cockney gangster, is released from prison with the intent of doing a 'big job' in Italy. He soon meets with the widow (Lelia Goldoni) of his friend and fellow thief Roger Beckermann (Rossano Brazzi), who was killed in a prearranged car crash in the Italian Alps by the Mafia. She gives Croker her husband's plans for the robbery that attracted the hostile attention of his killers, and which detail a way to steal 4 million dollars worth of Chinese gold in Italy, and escape with it to Switzerland.

Croker attempts to finance the job and recruit a gang, by breaking back into his former prison to meet 'Mr. Bridger' (Noël Coward), the head of a huge criminal empire, who has bribed almost all of the prison guards to work for him. Bridger initially rejects the plan, but changes his mind when he realises the effect it would have on the Italians.

Plot

Charlie Croker (Michael Caine), a Cockney gangster, is released from prison with the intent of doing a 'big job' in Italy. He soon meets with the widow (Lelia Goldoni) of his friend and fellow thief Roger Beckermann (Rossano Brazzi), who was killed in a prearranged car crash in the Italian Alps by the Mafia. She gives Croker her husband's plans for the robbery that attracted the hostile attention of his killers, and which detail a way to steal 4 million dollars worth of Chinese gold in Italy, and escape with it to Switzerland.

Croker attempts to finance the job and recruit a gang, by breaking back into his former prison to meet 'Mr. Bridger' (Noël Coward), the head of a huge criminal empire, who has bribed almost all of the prison guards to work for him. Bridger initially rejects the plan, but changes his mind when he realises the effect it would have on the Italians.

With Bridger's backing, Croker assembles a group including computer expert Professor Peach (Benny Hill), electronics handler Birkinshaw (Fred Emney) and several others for the getaway and the robbery. The plan calls for Peach to infect the computer driving Turin's traffic control system with a virus to create a paralysing traffic jam that will prevent the police from recapturing the gold. Some of the gang will use three cars (one Mini Cooper S and two base models) to transport the gold out of the city via a planned route to avoid the gridlock, while the rest escape disguised as football supporters. They will then rendezvous and drive to Switzerland.

After planning and training, Croker and crew set out for Turin. Mafia boss Altabani (Raf Vallone) is waiting in the Alps at the same pass where Beckermann was killed. He warns them that the Mafia are aware of their intentions and destroys their vehicles, but Croker talks their way out of being killed by assuring him that Mr. Bridger will avenge their deaths by looting and attacking the Italian community in Britain. Altabani lets them go, ordering them to return to England. Croker, undeterred, gathers the gang and has Peach load his guerrilla software into the traffic control computer the night before the heist. The next day Birkinshaw jams the closed circuit television that monitors traffic, just before Peach's software goes off and the city comes to a standstill. The gang converge on the gold convoy, overpower the guards, pull the armoured car into the entrance hall of the Museo Egizio, and lock the doors.

Inside, the gang transfer the gold to the Minis. Altabani recognises that "If they planned this traffic jam, then they must have planned a way out of it." The three Minis race through the shopping arcades of the city and negotiate the traffic jams by a pre-planned route. The getaway is timed perfectly, and they escape by driving through a large sewer pipe, throwing off the police. They then transfer the gold onto a coach and dispose of the Minis, before driving on to the Alps.

Charlie and the Mini crews meet the rest of the gang, who had sneaked out of the city disguised as English football fans in a minibus. Celebrating in the coach, they quickly become drunk and unable to concentrate. When driver 'Big' William sends the coach into a skid, the back of the bus is left teetering over a cliff and the gold slides towards the rear doors. As Croker attempts to reach the gold, it slips further. The film ends on a literal cliffhanger with Croker announcing he has a 'great idea.'

This article uses material from the Wikipedia article "The_Italian_Job", which is released under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share-Alike License 3.0